'Dirty Jobs' taken to trash heap

After eight long seasons, everything is finally clean. And that is bad news for Mike Rowe.

The Discovery Channel pulled the plug on Dirty Jobs today. Rowe served as the host of the series for its entire run. I wonder if tomorrow he will be thanking the channel for tossing him on the curb.

The unscripted series looked at the jobs people are happy they do not have. The franchise helped pave the way for Discovery's entire family of reality programing, along with Gold Rush and Deadliest Catch.

The series finished up in September.

The show was still drawing strong ratings for the network, but it seems like they just ran out of ideas.

"Over the years it's been my pleasure to assure anxious fans that Dirty Jobs is coming back for another season. And indeed, we always have. Alas, this year, I'm afraid I cannot dispel the rumors," Rowe said. "A few weeks ago, I was officially informed that Dirty Jobs had entered into a new phase. One I like to call, 'permanent hiatus.' Or in the more popular industry vernacular, canceled.

"Dirty Jobs is a very personal show, and it's difficult for me to imagine a future that does not involve exploding toilets, venomous snakes, misadventures in animal husbandry, and feces from every species. Nevertheless, the future is here, and while it does not appear to contain any more Dirty Jobs, it will almost certainly include another Thanksgiving. So in the spirit of the holiday, I'd like to thank those people most responsible for reinvigorating my erstwhile career, and launching the most honest show in the history of reality TV," he added.